Random Retrospective

Let me begin by apologizing for the cheap-shot title of this blog, and also disclose that I am hopping on the summer-blog-bandwagon mostly as a way to share pictures and purge my brain of thoughts which otherwise would fall on politely nodding, but probably uninterested Japanese. For anyone who has never been to Japan, I challenge you to spend some time here before you let stereotypes bias your opinion of Japanese people. The culture has fueled an impressive rate of development and innovation, and superficially it appears very similar to our own mega-city, New York; similarities in spite of two different cultural philosophies. The term analogous evolution creeps to mind. And apparently, though a $5,000 trip to Tokyo would make for a decent slice on the Wheel-of-Fortune, it was surprisingly unpopular among Columbia medical students. How is it that only 5 people applied for this?

Three weeks ago I arrived in Tsukiji, a quiet little nook in southeastern Tokyo home to the Tsukiji Fishmarket and St. Luke's International Hospital, where I spend most of the day. The market opens at 4 am, and is apparently quite a site. I will update with pictures once I am able to get my ass out of bed that early. Oh yea, and there's a Denny's.

Besides sushi and surgery, Tsukiji isn't exactly a huge tourist draw. Luckily, Tokyo is connected by one of the best subway systems in the world, at least according to me. Which is to say it's better than New York or London. Everything is calculated to the minute - what time the next two trains will be arriving, how long it takes to get to your stop; you can even plan your tomorrow according to the train schedule, saving valuable minutes to stop and buy a porno and iced coffee for the 13 minute ride. I love it here already.

So far I've taken the subway to most of the "must-see" places in Tokyo: Shinjuku, Harajuku, Asakusa, Odieba, Ginza, Roppongi, Ebisu, Shibuya; though there is certainly much more to be seen (posts to come soon). Walking around Tokyo can be daunting at times, although probably very similar to what it's like to be illiterate. Oh yeah, and deaf. Still, spending two weeks in Leiden and Amsterdam wandering around like I was deaf and stupid was good spatial map training. What does get annoying is the constant jingling of coins in my bag and/or pocket, a pile which seems to grow exponentially despite my attempts to use exact change and vending machines as often as possible. I still haven't figured out the function of the 1 Yen coin, which is worth nearly .01 cents and seems to be accepted no where. When four coins can buy you a feast of a meal (or cafeteria food for almost a week), maybe it's time to rethink the currency situation. Then again, you can also do some damage with a couple of British pounds in your pocket; is the rest of the world this keen on coins? Maybe we can add change to the list of things that we like to ignore in America: like national healthcare, or the metric system.

Last week I got tickets from the chief of orthopedic surgery to see the Yomiuri Giants play against the Orix Blue Rays at Tokyo Dome. Twice. Enough cannot be said about Japanese hospitality. They take their duties very seriously, and the duty of host is taken especially so. Baseball is another one of those things that looks just like it does in America, but watch it long enough and you'll see it's very different. Stadium food is an obvious first; I'll take grilled octopus, yakitori, katsu, and curry over a Ballpark Frank any day. Next, each player on the home team has a theme song that plays when he's up at bat, driving the crowd nuts. Eminem made it on the soundtrack...for the backup pitcher. Matsui used to play for the Giants before joining the Yankees; his theme song was Godzilla. Oh, and the beer guys? You know, the sloppy joes who scream "ice-cold beer here!" but end up sounding like "ASS ko bee, HEIA?" Not to be found at Tokyo Dome. Instead, each team employs a harem of cute, but tiny beer girls to dispense the refreshments. These poor girls!

They must weigh less than a hundred pounds, and yet they carry a keg full of beer up and down the stadium. Exhausted as they must be, they manage to cry cheerfully, "Beeru ika desu ka!?" (roughly translated as "how about a beer?"). I'll remember them next time I feel like bitching about carrying around my textbooks and laptop.

Back to the game. Each team is owned by a company, and they are identified as such more so than by home city. One of the strangest moments of the night: a former Giants star who had since been traded to the opposing Blue Rays stepped up to the plate, cheered on magnanimously by adoring...Giants fans? If Jeter had left for the Mets or Red Sox, he would probably feel a little anxious about coming back to Yankee stadium. I think. I'm actually not a huge baseball fan to begin with. Is it Red Socks or Sox?

So far I've written this post about 3 times, my laptop becoming decidedly senile and unremitting in its old age. Future updates will be short and frequent.